"Fuck 'im up the ass and make 'im lick his cock clean."

Danny laughed. Brian closed his eyes and prayed he wouldn't have to deal with Lockley. The man was a giant mountain of fat and muscle. His bowels seemed ready to leave his body any way they could.

The detectives pulled up in front of the Silver Dollar Diner. They made sure to lock the doors when they got out.

Brian watched them walk away until he saw the figures on the roof of the brick and chrome building. In the neon light, he saw Angela and five college girls that he knew intimately.

"Boyd! Boyd! Fuck's sake! Boyd let me out of here!" He screamed as loudly as he could, trying to break the cuffs that held his wrists together in the small of his back. All he got for his trouble were a few lacerations.

Boyd and Holdstedter probably heard him, but they didn't respond.

He looked up as the six women on the roof dropped down to the parking lot and walked his way. Every one of them was smiling, baring wickedly sharp teeth.

He was still screaming when they peeled the roof of the car away and reached for him.

Chapter 19.

I.

Boyd drew his weapon and ran for the door when he heard the sounds of metal bending and glass shattering. They were enough to get him to turn, but it was the bloody shriek that came out of Freemont that made him draw his pistol.

Sounds like that weren't supposed to come out of people.

Danny was right behind him and as soon as he was out the door, Danny had his back covered and was shifting to the right.

"What the fuck?" Six women, some clothed and some naked, were pulling Brian Freemont out of what was left of the Crown Victoria. Freemont was screaming like there was no tomorrow. Maybe for him there wasn't. In the glow of the parking lights, he recognized each and every one of the girls. One of them was Freemont's wife. She was nude, her body glistening it was so pale, her belly distended with the unborn baby she was carrying.

The others were all younger, mostly pretty, and all of them had files on his desk. He'd dealt with the families and friends of all of them in the last few days. They were all among the missing persons he was investigating. He took all of that in instantly.

He also took in the fact that they were going to kill Brian Freemont if he didn't do something about it.

"FREEZE!" He lowered the pistol to just over their heads.

Danny was already waiting for them to do something stupid.

Freemont's wife looked over her shoulder at Boyd and shook her head. "He's my husband, I'll kill him if I want to."

One of the others laughed: Danielle Hopkins, if he was remembering names as well as he usually did. She looked like she'd covered herself in white clay and let it dry and flake off. Her lips were blue and if he hadn't known better, he would have thought a corpse was laughing at him. His skin suddenly felt too tight. Her face barely moved, even when she moved her mouth, like some of the muscles wouldn't work. Her eyes were staring at him and he thought he could see something moving in her hair.

"Put him down and back away, ladies. I don't want to hurt any of you."

Brian was making all sorts of noises, but none of them were coherent. Danny was as still as a statue, his eyes looked half-glazed, but Boyd knew it was just how he got ready to fire a weapon.

"No, I don't think so." Freemont's wife shook her head. "We have unfinished business with Brian."

"I'm not kidding here, lady. Put him down."

He took the time to aim at her shoulder. He didn't want to shoot a pregnant woman, but if he had to, he would.

"You can have him when we're done." She rose straight up into the air, and the other women followed her example. Boyd forgot all about the pistol in his hand as they rose higher and higher, taking a screaming Brian Freemont into the air with them. Boyd just kept watching until they were almost gone.

He put his piece away.

"This is one of those Red Lady moments, Richie."

Boyd looked over at Danny and nodded. "Yeah. I'm gonna have to give a big ten-four on that."

"You get to call it in."

"Call what in?"

"The disappearance of Brian Freemont and the wrecking of the car."

"This wasn't a disappearance."

"No?"

"Fuck no. This was kidnapping."

"Were they wearing Halloween makeup?"

"I hope so. I really fucken hope so."

Several people had come out of the diner and were looking at the remains of the car. Boyd shot one of them a murderous look when he started walking over to investigate. "Get the hell away from there!" The kid backed up fast, his eyes wide. "Do you really need the fucken yellow crime scene tape, bright boy? Go back inside and eat your food. All of you!" A few comments came from the crowd, but they listened.

Danny shook his head. "You gotta worry about some of these assholes."

"I gotta worry about filling out the fucken reports. You worry about the assholes." He pulled out his cell phone and started dialing. "I'm calling Whalen and Longwood. We can't do a damned thing until we get gloves."

"What do you think they're gonna do to him?"

"Same thing we were hoping Lockley was gonna do."

"That's not gonna be pretty."

"Neither was he."

"Should I feel bad for him, Richie?"

Boyd shook his head and grinned as Whalen answered her phone. "Nancy? Hi, Boyd here. We got a situation you might want to know about."

"Boyd? What are you doing calling my house at . . . twelve-fifteen at night?"

Somewhere in the background he heard the grumbling noises of Nancy's husband. "I'm calling you to an investigation."

"You know, you have crappy timing."

"What? You were about to get lucky?"

"No, asshole, I was getting lucky."

"Yeah? I'll send your husband a dozen roses and an apology note." He supposed it was wrong to be happy about interfering in their love lives, but he took his petty little victories where he could.

"Better get to the store, Boyd. He says he's coming with me."

He was glad she was only teasing. "Would he take donuts instead?"

"If it's got a hole he can fuck, probably."

Boyd laughed out loud until his face was red. When he was calmer and Nancy was done calling him names on the phone, he told her where they were and explained a little about the situation.

She told him she'd be there in twenty minutes.

"You live five minutes away."

"Can't leave the poor bastard suffering, Boyd."

"I was gonna give him donuts . . ."

"There would be that waiting time. He isn't really a patient soul."

"Okay, I don't need to think about what you're doing to make him groan, so I'm getting off the phone, Whalen." That was true. She frustrated him enough without extra help.

"You sure? I was gonna let you listen. It's kind of kinky that way."

He hung up the phone, not one hundred percent sure she was joking and very bothered by that notion.

Danny was looking at him and grinning like a chimpanzee again.

"Not a fucken word, Danny."

"Who, me?" He managed the innocent look for all of two seconds before he cracked up.

Boyd shook his head and tried to get the idea of Nancy Whalen naked out of his skull. He threw the phone to Danny. "You call Longwood, dickhead."

He was still trying to figure out how to explain the flying-away part of the kidnapping when the other detectives showed up. Nancy was wearing tight jeans. He hated her a little for that. The worst part was, she knew it and reveled in his discomfort.

II.

Kelli woke up from a deep sleep feeling invigorated. She hadn't enjoyed a good night's sleep in over a week. Her body desperatelyneeded it and so did her mind, so it was like heaven when she awoke fully rested.

Erika was on the phone when she stepped into the kitchen. Breakfast was ready; cereal and milk, and not just any cereal but generic corn flakes. They tasted like paradise.

No coffee made, so she hit the Mountain Dew stash she'd picked up on the way over. Erika had helped herself to two already.

While her temporary roomie stayed occupied, she went off and showered. Erika had all the sorts of shampoos and soaps that were advertised on TV and Kelli tried everything that was outrageously expensive. Erika was a wonderful girlfriend, but she'd stolen Mountain Dews and therefore had to suffer. When she was done, Erika helped her dye her hair a brilliant flaming red. It was a temporary dye but it looked a lot better than she had expected it to when it was done and dried and styled.

They were supposed to go to school, but played hooky instead. Marie and Rita showed up later in the afternoon and they all reclined in silent luxury while eating too much comfort food and watching a stack of rented horror movies to get them in the mood for the night to come.

Kelli put on the Elvira costume and looked at herself in the full-length mirror. She barely recognized herself. Normally it was sweaters and jeans or a skirt. This showed a lot more flesh than she was comfortable baring. On the other hand, it showed off her cleavage nicely.

"Screw it. You only live once."

After that, she put on the tattered robes of the zombie costume and successfully managed to hide the scandalous black outfit beneath it. She still preferred the zombie look, it was safer, but for once she would let herself go a little. What the hell? It hadn't killed Erika yet.

Soon enough they were all ready to go and it was just a matter of waiting patiently. School wasn't even out yet and they weren't supposed to get started until five.

It was going to be a busy day. But she hoped it would be an exciting one.

She had no idea.

III.

Ben drove, looking at Maggie out of the corner of his eye. She was staring out the front windshield and from time to time chewing on her lower lip.

He went back to paying attention to the road when a tractor trailer honked at him. He'd been drifting.

"You okay?"

"No. Okay isn't on the menu right now, Ben."

He nodded and took a right onto Van Buren Avenue.

It was the priest thing that was bothering her. He was certain of it. When he realized that most of what they were saying was going over his head and that a lot of it was stuff he shouldn't even hear, Ben had pulled his invisible stunt and left the two of them to talk.

"Why the churches?" Maggie had asked. "Why the priests and ministers?"

Ben wasn't stupid. He could figure out what she meant. He doubted sincerely that she'd gone to synagogue to study for a comparative religion course she wasn't even taking, and he knew good and damned well that Tom had to have had reasons for questioning her being inside for too long.

Soulis had merely smiled. "Because faith causes us troubles. I don't really know that I believe in God, Maggie, but I know that those with a powerful belief in him can inconvenience me. If their faith is broken, they are no longer a threat."

"So you had me . . . cause a crisis of faith?"

"They sinned in the houses they raised to their god and they did it willingly. Most men do not like to admit their sins. Most hide them and keep doing what they've always done, even if they know they should seek absolution."

"You've put too much thought into this."

"More than you know."

He pushed his thoughts away from the conversation.

"You're not a monster, Maggie." Ben spoke the words softly, knowing she would hear them.